Homecoming
by inelegantprose
Summary: A year after Endor, Luke's newfound family journeys to Tatooine to join him in saying a proper goodbye to his former home.


_Prompted on Tumblr (same name) and originally posted there._

Homecoming

"Leia, it's _supposed_ to become invisible when you rub it in," Luke said, smiling faintly as his sister applied yet another layer of sunscreen on his three-month-old nephew. "Just because you can't see it doesn't mean it's not enough."

"I _know_ that," Leia said, rolling her eyes and pursuing her lips as she fussed over Ben in his seat. "I just want to make sure I got it in all his folds… all your little folds, isn't that right? Oh, I know, I know…" As if anticipating the ever-present refrain of _you're getting sappy, Princess,_ she shot Luke a fierce look and insisted, "He has all these little nooks and crannies, it isn't my fault."

"Han, did you put some on?" Luke asked, turning to his sunglass-clad friend driving their borrowed speeder across the desert sand.

"I'm fine, kid. Not my first time under the two suns," Han said easily, leaning back with one hand on the wheel.

"That doesn't make you immune to sunburn," Luke pointed out. "The sun doesn't respect spacer swagger as protection."

"Har har."

"It never got this hot on Alderaan," Leia noted simply. "And I was much paler than most of the people. So when my mother learned I was going to Tatooine, her way of expressing her worry was to worry about me in the sun. Do you remember my dress, with its veil? And how it covered every inch of exposed skin…"

"Is that why you thought sunburn was so serious?" Luke asked, laughing in surprise. "Han, you weren't there, but when we were staking out Jabba's? She was _so concerned_ about sunburn. It was like, her number one concern."

"I believe the hibernation sickness was my number one concern."

"Number two, then. The minute we landed she demanded to know what preparations I'd made for _topical burns_ from the two suns."

"You're acting so smug, but what you may have forgotten is that I _did_ end up with topical burns. Welts, actually. Blistering, oozing welts, a whole constellation of them. A whole constellation, I know, I know, but that won't happen to you, never ever, because Mama is being very reasonable about you and sunscreen." (The transition between righteous irritation and baby talk was seamless, and she went smoothly from glaring at Luke to kissing Ben's nose until he giggled happily.)

Han gritted his teeth. "Didn't forget. No worries."

"I actually didn't know that," Luke confessed. "I guess that makes sense – conductive metal in the suns. Gods, that was just – evil."

Leia made a humming sound, then frowned as Ben started to fuss in earnest.

"He hungry?" Han offered.

"I don't think so, I think it's the sand spraying because of the speed. We'll fix it, don't worry…"

"So now you want me to slow down? Case you forgot, we're on a tight schedule here, _your_ insistence," Han pointed out, but it was good-natured, sly.

"I said I didn't _have_ to holo into the conference if _need be_. Of course this is my first priority. Shhh darling, I know – where is his blanket?"

"The turn is a little bit up ahead," Luke said, pointing.

"Yeah, I see it – blanket in the bag?"

"I think you––"

"Check the bag?"

"––are _sitting_ on it, actually. Sh-sh-sh, we're okay…"

"Oh. Shit. Here you go, hey buddy, you're okay––"

" _Han!_ Keep your eyes on the––!"

"Sweetheart, you and I both know I could drive this with my eyes closed."

"Exactly, so you don't need to prove it!" She snatched the blanket, then tucked it into the seat's canopy so the baby was protected from the flying sand. "There you go… Oh, the problem with this solution is _someone_ hasn't really learned object permanence yet – Ben, Mama's right here outside, see…"

"Do the––"

"Hair thing, I know, you forget whose hair it is."

"You forget who _invented_ the hair thing," Han retorted as Leia unwound a lengthy lock of hair from one of her buns and finagled it into Ben's fist, soothing him immediately.

"Would you like me to unwind another lock for you to hold so _you_ can be certain you're on my mind, Captain?"

"Nah, I don't need that. 'Cause I _know_ you're always thinkin' about me," Han drawled, and Leia scoffed.

Luke smiled to himself, watching his friends. They could be anywhere in the galaxy, but they'd be exactly the same. Seeing them in a speeder with a baby on the route to his old homestead was sort of surreal, but at the same time it felt so right. "Then another turn…" Luke guided softly after a moment of silence. "There, do you see?"

"That structure in the distance? Yeah, I got it."

"The sand looks like waves in the sea," Leia observed, still tethered to Ben. "It's beautiful out here."

"You could've grown up here," Luke pointed out.

"I know. Strange…"

"I never did ask – why did you first come to Tatooine, Han?"

"Me? Heard of a job, that's all. First job I ever did as captain of the Falcon."

"I didn't know that either," Leia said. "You heard of it from your old mentor, I'm guessing?"

" _Mentor_ is a way to put it," Han snorted. "But I'll tell you this – on the subject of sunburn? I'd never seen heat like this either 'til I came. So my first time out here? First instinct was to take my shirt off to fight the heat. I showed up in front of Jabba about as red and swollen as you can imagine. Could barely open my eyes. Chewie took the lead on that one."

"It's dangerous," Leia agreed, but she was grinning at the mental image.

"Dehydration is what will really get you," Luke said. "Everyone needs to make sure they have enough to drink."

They pulled to a stop a few meters in front of the property, and as the small group filed out of the speed, they fell silent.

"It's actually more intact than I expected," Luke said after a moment. "I mean, that's not saying much, but…"

"You, uh. Said last time you saw this place, there were – ah. Remains?" Han asked in a low voice. He was holding the baby now, and Luke almost had to give a sad smile at the way he angled himself away from the infant, as though Ben might be frightened by the words.

Luke shook his head. "They must be gone by now. I know the family on the next property, they would have buried them. Probably unmarked or cremated, to avoid the Empire's antipathy, but…"

"I'm sure someone took care of them," Leia assured him, putting a hand on her brother's shoulder. "Would you like to look around?"

"… I guess I would. Right. Yes."

She let her hand linger and squeezed. "Would you like some time to walk around alone?"

"No… no, I don't think so. I invited you guys here because I wanted you here."

"Okay. Well. We're here," Leia said gently, then immediately pivoted and squinted before calling out, "Han! You need to put his hat back on!"

(And Han calling back, just as indignant, _Leia! It's rubbin' his neck raw!)_

"Maybe this was a bad idea," Luke mused softly.

"It's not too late to go back. We can turn around right now. You know closure is a process, not a singular moment," Leia said seriously.

"We're already out here…"

"I don't care. Han won't care. And your nephew certainly will not care, especially if you distract him on the ride home by levitating his paci again."

"Did you ever do anything? To honor your parents?"

"I tried to find a way to sit shiva," she offered. "A very modified shiva – late in the evenings, and early in the mornings, in the days following our arrival on Yavin. The handful of Alderaanians who were on the base observed with me a bit." She sighed. "I thought I would find a more permanent way to honor them, after the war, but with the baby… And it's hard to find space to honor them, uniquely, apart from the Disaster. I say a prayer on their anniversary."

"I never even processed my aunt and uncle's death. Not even a little bit," Luke said. "I think I was more shaken up by Old Ben's, honestly. My aunt and uncle's just – didn't feel real."

"What kind of mourning rituals did you have on Tatooine?"

"Cremation, usually. Distributing the ashes between members of the family, and they're supposed to incorporate them into the sand of their own homes. And there's a circle you make with water, and you stay beside the spot until it evaporates."

"That's beautiful."

"I think so, too."

"I know I'll never think of myself as from here," Leia said softly. "But I do think of how I could have been. I'm glad you wanted us here with you. Even if we turn around. I'm glad you wanted us here."

"It feels right to be here with you. Whole."

"I know. I honestly thought it would feel – haunted, by _him_. But it doesn't. It feels heavy, with history. But not like that history is malicious."

"Throwback to our womb days, right?"

"Do you think she was ever here, while pregnant? Do you think his mother knew about the us?"

"I think Shmi died before the pregnancy."

"Right."

"I'm surprised you're – okay with that. Asking those questions."

"I don't resent Shmi. She obviously did her best under incredibly desperate circumstances. The choices he made were his choices."

"You sound like my aunt."

"Oh, I do?"

"Mhm. Wise like her. She would take my hand across the table and shake her head smiling and make the entire universe make sense."

"I'm glad I'm your sister, Luke Skywalker."

"I'm glad I'm your brother, Leia – ah…?"

"Organa, still, that's right."

"Agh, sorry – I thought maybe you guys finally made it official some free afternoon."

Leia actually laughed aloud at that one. " _What_ free afternoon?"

"Hey sweetheart!" Han's voice called. "Think he's getting hungry!"

Leia smiled, rolling her eyes and shaking her head. "Do you think there's somewhere I could nurse?"

It was a surreal sight, moments later – his kitchen table was miraculously intact, that place he'd done his homework and peppered with aunt and uncle with endless questions and cajoled his way into a second dessert and had countless glasses of blue milk. and there was the last princess of Alderaan, who was also his twin sister, feeding her improbable surprise baby who was also his nephew, bickering good-naturedly with her spacer-pirate fiancé who was also his best friend. They were both somehow terribly improbable here and yet totally obvious there. They were both terribly improbable in his life and yet totally obvious. His first experience with family had been as a foundling – it only made sense that this family be a group of foundlings who found each other.

As if out of nowhere, Luke spied a pitcher behind them, cracked a bit, against the floor. He walked over to them, bent over, picked it up. Then, he filled it with some of the water from his canteen.

By the time he'd started pouring it in two overlapping circles, Leia was burping the baby and yanking Han's sleeve for his attention.

"Do you want to say anything?" she prompted her brother gently after a moment of quiet.

"I don't think so. I think they know. Maybe just that… the nature of water is circular and continuous. So too is the Force's nature. I think my family would appreciate being remembered––"

"Ah! Ah!" (That was the baby, reaching his arms out desperately, excited by the streaming water.)

Leia nodded at her brother, and he came over and scooped up Ben, bouncing him as he poured.

"––With my family."

"That's lovely, Luke."

"Shit, kid. When'd you get some wise?"

"Leia, I know you don't think of them as being your aunt and uncle, but I do. I just do – not because of blood but because you're my sister."

"If that's how you feel," she said generously.

"Maybe you could say the prayer you were telling me about?" (Once they'd found out that their birth mother had practiced the same matrilineal religion as Leia, Luke had taken a lot of interest in learning more about it.) "The mourner's kiddish?"

"Kaddish," she corrected gently. "Kiddish is something else. I'd be glad to, if that's what you want."

"If you don't mind? And maybe we could stand around here until it dries."

She started the old words quietly, moving to stand with him, Han following soon after and taking Ben into his arms. Luke held onto his aunt's pitcher, now empty, and watched steam begin to waft off of the sand.

"I love my family," Luke said softly after she had finished.

"He talkin' about us?" Han stage-whispered to Leia, and she swatted him. "What? He could've meant the Skywalkers, the Lars's…"

"I think his point is actually that they're all the same," Leia said, rolling her eyes.

"I actually went through a phase when I called myself Luke Lars," Luke confessed.

"The Organas…" Han continued.

"The Amidala-Naberries…" Leia added.

"And the Solos," Luke said.

"Hells, Solo ain't even my original family name."

"The… Lars-Skywalker-Organa-Amidala-Naberrie-Solos," Luke said, giving a half smile.

"It's almost dry now," Leia said. "Is there something in particular we do next?"

"Just head home, I guess," Luke said. "Maybe grab a bite?"

"What is Tatooinian cuisine?" Leia asked, mildly skeptical.

"It's good, sweetheart, surprisingly good. Spicy. You'll like it."

"That sounds nice. Something as normal as sitting down to a meal as a family."

"I always forget that you spent so much time here," Luke said to Han, shaking his head.

"Kinda weird, right? Tryna remember if I ever ran into some especially annoying little squirt."

"Little did you know that squirt would be your brother someday."

Han's expression was unusually contemplative, his nod slow. "Little did I know."

He overheard them as they trekked back to the speeder, lingering a few paces behind, Luke taking the baby in his seat. Han's voice serious but firm. _Listen_. _Your brother's a pretty smart kid, you know that?_

 _Yes,_ I _know. Nice of you to notice._

 _What he's saying about family. It's no joke._

 _He's a really good man. I'm glad we were here._

 _And just – thinking about beginnings and endings – 'bout how stuff happens so fast, y'know, or suddenly…_

 _I know._

 _I don't wanna wait anymore. What're we doin' if we can't make time for the stuff that's important, right? I wanna marry you, now. Tomorrow. Right when we get back._

 _Han––_

 _Now whatever you're gonna say, you better no – I'm not taking no for an answer – you already agreed, we keep putting it off, and now that Ben's here it's like––_

 _Han, of course you must know that even before we're married if something happens to me you and Ben would never be separated––_

 _If you think I'd've put this off as long as we have if I_ didn't _know that you––_

 _I didn't meet you offend you!_

 _Look. All I meant now that he's here it's like we've got everyone we need. To be there. Y'know. For our families to be there. We got everyone we need._

The long silence of them kissing, then, Luke figured, transplants from other worlds lit by the twin suns, somehow finding their way back to their family's long-ago home. The sand takes away, it gives. Mysterious. Luke got into the speeder and waited for his friends, his nephew on his lap. He took a long at his home. At his feet, the pitcher – he had hardly realized he'd carried it with them. Old things, new things. He greeted his friends as they got into the speeder, passing back Ben for his seat. This time, he drove – flying straight into the sand, he knew the way home.

 _#_

 _I haven't posted a one-shot in a long time. Let me know what you think._


End file.
